Al-Ittihad Set to Sign Ritsu Doan as Diaby's Successor

Al-Ittihad are moving fast. With one of their marquee attackers gone, the Jeddah giants have wasted no time lining up a successor – and they are now on the brink of landing Japan’s Ritsu Doan.

According to Saudi outlet Al-Riyadiah, Al-Ittihad have reached an agreement with Eintracht Frankfurt for the transfer of the Japanese international. The deal is in place between the two clubs, with only a few contractual details left before the move becomes official and Doan is unveiled in the Roshn League.

This is a response signing. Moussa Diaby’s departure to Bayer Leverkusen left a hole in the final third and stripped “the Dean” of one of their most prominent names this window. The hierarchy knew they could not let that gap linger.

So they turned to Doan.

The 26-year-old, shaped by years on European pitches, offers exactly what Al-Ittihad have been searching for: versatility across the attacking line, sharp movement between the lines, and the kind of experience that can steady a reshaped dressing room. He can operate wide, drift inside, link play, and carry a goal threat – the sort of multi-purpose forward who gives a coach options, not headaches.

That matters this summer. Al-Ittihad are in the middle of a major rebuild, phasing out several of the figures who defined the previous project and trying to hand their coach a squad capable of executing a new identity. Doan’s imminent arrival is not a one-off splash; it fits into a broader recruitment drive aimed at refreshing the team’s attacking profile.

Al-Riyadiah reports that the agreement with Eintracht Frankfurt is already done, with both clubs simply waiting on the final signatures and formalities before the player can be registered and presented. Inside the club, the feeling is that the announcement is now a question of timing, not negotiation.

For Al-Ittihad, Doan is being lined up as the man to succeed Diaby in the squad and restore some of the lost spark in the attacking third. For the fans, his name has quickly become the focal point of a turbulent window.

They are now waiting for one thing: the official confirmation that the Japanese international will step into “the Dean’s” new project and try to ignite a very different Al-Ittihad season.